ASUS today introduced the RT-AX89X, a massive, arachnid-looking, high-end gaming router with no less than 8 antennae. Its WLAN component is as impressive as its wired networking one. On the WLAN side, you get an 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) set up with up to 4,804 Mbps over the 5 GHz band + up to 1,300 Mbps over the 2.4 GHz band, adding up to 6,104 Mbps in dual-band mode. Even over the older 802.11ac standard, the router offers up to 4,333 Mbps (5 GHz) + 1,000 Mbps (2.4 GHz). The WLAN component offers the latest security features, including WPA3-Personal and WPA2-Enterprise.

The wired networking setup of the ASUS RT-AX89X includes two 10 GbE uplinks, one 1 GbE WAN uplink, and eight 1 GbE LAN downlinks. The 10 GbE ports can be individually reconfigured as LAN downlinks. Also on offer are two 5 Gbps USB 3.1 type-A ports that can take in USB cellular Internet dongles, and USB mass-storage devices, such as flash drives, external storage devices, etc. The company didn't mention the router's signal strength in dBi, but rates it for "very large homes." The company didn't reveal pricing.

QNAP Systems, Inc., today launched the quad-core 1.7 GHz TS-431KX NAS with 10GbE SFP+ connectivity. The TS-431KX provides high bandwidth for intensive data transmission, allowing SMB and startups to easily backup/restore and synchronize data without breaking their budget. The TS-431KX supports Snapshot technology and HBS (Hybrid Backup Sync) local, offsite and cloud backup that enable a well-rounded disaster recovery plan to ensure uninterrupted services.

The TS-431KX is powered by a quad-core 1.7 GHz processor, 2GB RAM (upgradable to 8 GB) with one 10GbE SFP+ and two 1GbE network ports. Coupled with a QNAP QSW series 10GbE/NBASE-T network switch, users can easily build a high-speed 10GbE network environment to achieve faster and streamlined workflows. Featuring tool-less and lockable drive bays, the TS-431KX makes installation easier while also ensuring the drives are safe and secure.

QNAP Systems, Inc. today launched the 2-bay TS-251D NAS. Powered by an Intel J4005 dual-core processor, the TS-251D can be used with QNAP's smart AI photo management application, QuMagie, which integrates AI image recognition to group similar photos together in album "People", "Things" and "Places". The 4K media transcoding and streaming capabilities of the TS-251D brings users an excellent and satisfying cross-device multimedia experience. The TS-251D also provides a PCIe slot for expanding its core functionality.

Powered by an Intel Celeron J4005 dual-core 2.00 GHz processor (burst up to 2.7 GHz), DDR4 RAM (up to 8 GB), one Gigabit LAN port, and supports SATA 6 Gbps drives. The TS-251D provides dependable read/write speeds and Intel AES-NI 256 hardware-accelerated encryption to secure sensitive and confidential data on the NAS. The TS-251D also supports snapshots, allowing users to quickly recover data in the event of accidental deletion/modification or ransomware attack.

Apacer, the leading manufacturer of industrial-grade memory, announces the release of the XR-DIMM. This rugged memory module is the first on the market to meet the exacting standards of the US RTCA DO-160G test, an aviation equipment certification that marks the XR-DIMM as resistant to high levels of vibration and therefore ideal for defense and aeronautical applications.

Since 2018, Apacer has been manufacturing DDR4 XR-DIMM modules with rugged stability in mind. Though previous models have been compliant with MIL-STD-810G, this new module is the first to be proven compliant with the US RTCA DO-160G standard, making it the ideal choice for manufacturers who need reliable operation through extreme vibration and shock.

Marvell Technology Group Ltd., a leader in infrastructure semiconductor solutions, and Aquantia, Corp., a leader in Multi-Gig Ethernet connectivity, today announced a definitive agreement, approved by the boards of directors of both companies, under which Marvell will acquire all outstanding shares of Aquantia common stock in exchange for consideration of $13.25 per share in cash.

The acquisition of Aquantia complements Marvell's portfolio of copper and optical physical layer product offerings and extends its position in the Multi-Gig 2.5G/5G/10G Ethernet segments. In particular, Aquantia's innovative Multi-gig automotive PHYs, coupled with Marvell's industry-leading gigabit PHY and secure switch products, creates the broadest and most advanced range of high-speed in-car networking solutions in the world. This unique combination accelerates Marvell's vision for the future of automotive networking with speeds necessary to enable level 4 and 5 autonomous driving.

QNAP Systems, Inc. has extended the lineup of QM2 PCIe expansion cards with new models that support up to four M.2 SSDs slots on a single card. QM2 cards support either M.2 SATA SSDs or M.2 PCIe NVMe SSDs to enable SSD caching for boosted IOPS performance or to form an auto-tiering volume for optimal storage performance. QM2 cards also allow QNAP NAS users to maximize both storage capacity and performance by installing M.2 SSDs without occupying any 3.5-inch drive bays.

"When faced with a performance bottleneck, the random read/write speed of the hard drives in a NAS is one of the decisive performance factors," said Joan Hsieh, Product Manager of QNAP, continuing "QM2 cards can greatly boost the performance of QNAP NAS with PCIe slots, while the flexible configuration of SSD caching and I/O-aware Qtier all helps multiply NAS performance."

NETGEAR, Inc., the leading provider of networking devices that power today's smart home and small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), is introducing the NETGEAR M4300-96X Stackable 10G and 40G Modular Managed Switch at the Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) AV industry trade show, taking place February 6-9 in the RAI convention center in Amsterdam.

The NETGEAR M4300-96X is the world's only 2U rack height modular switch starting at $100 per port that comes either empty or pre-populated and scales up to 96 ports of 10G Ethernet or up to 24 ports of 40G Ethernet, or a combination. With 12 open slots and two redundant power supplies, the M4300-96X supports maximum granularity between copper, PoE+ and fiber and unrivalled headroom for organizations buying infrastructure for the long term.

Synology Inc. today launched RackStation RS2818RP+, a 3U 16-bay NAS providing large storage capacity with affordable total cost of ownership (TCO) for small and medium-sized businesses. RS2818RP+ is Synology's first 3U RackStation NAS in the Plus Series product line, supporting up to 16 drive bays with up to 192TB raw capacity. The storage capacity can be further expanded up to 336TB when connecting to one RX1217(RP), providing on-the-fly volume expansion.

"One of the common challenges for modern small and medium-sized businesses is finding a storage solution that can store large amounts of data while having the flexibility to scale when business grows," said Jason Fan, Product Manager at Synology Inc. "RS2818RP+ offers large storage capacity with affordable TCO. It is ideal to serve as a centralized backup target, a file server or a hub-and-spoke backup target for distributed businesses."

Aquantia Corp., a leader in high-speed, Multi-Gigabit Ethernet connectivity solutions, today announced its plan to help PC gamers and hardware enthusiasts squeeze new levels of performance out of their systems. Today, Aquantia announced a special holiday promotion with international distribution partners Arrow, WPGA and WPI, to deliver the industry's fastest Ethernet adapters - Aquantia AQtion Network Interface Cards (NICs) - to gamers and performance PC users at a giftworthy price point for a limited time. The Aquantia AQtion AQN-108 5G NIC is now available for $59.00 and the Aquantia AQtion AQN-107 10G NIC is available for an unprecedented $69.00.

The super-low latency and in-game advantage that AQtion Multi-Gigabit NICs deliver make them the perfect holiday surprise for any hardware enthusiast. The performance PC user - whether a gamer, video editing enthusiast, designer, engineer or just a tried and true geek - wants the ability to move huge volumes of digital life data seamlessly and quickly. In a home or office, that seamless capability requires a 5G or even a 10G NIC card.